I attended on the 11th the remembrance ceremony in Grosvenor Gardens, this small square in which is Maréchal Foch equestrian statue.

We shared with French and English troops this moment dedicated to the memory of our soldiers of the first world war.

The French Ambassador to the U.K. and London’s Lord Mayor celebrated with us the Franco-British friendship, especially strong in war times, and we do not forget that our British allies have always come to our rescue when needed.

As many, I have lost on this war a member of my family, my grand-grand father.

18 years old at the time and mobilized in an infantry regiment, he was sent to the eastern front and died in the bloody battles of the last days of August 1914.

We have to remember the extraordinary bravery of all those men and women, who died to defend their homeland and our freedom.

We can also remember that the first world war was a war of great tactical changes that our army leaders didn’t really appreciate.

Foch’s tactical capabilities were largely questioned.

In favour of fierce attacks at all costs, ignoring the efficiency of new equipment like tanks and planes, he was seriously challenged for his actions in the dark years of 1916 and 1917, when some disastrous tactical choices led to immense human losses.

He refused to condemn the Chemin des Dames disaster, which caused hundred of thousands of deaths in a few days, probably contributed to the establishment of the Communist power in Russia and certainly cost Europe an additional year of war.

War is always a terrible answer to political conflicts, but it is sometimes not the worst.

We need sometimes to be able to fight at some point if we don’t want to be forced into worst battles later.

This sounds particularly familiar when Ukraine is under war and Europe looks as weak to fight for its rights as it was in 1914 and 1939…